Toy cannon



G. C. LASARES.

TOY CANNON.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-19. I918.

Patented Aug. 12, 1919.

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which GEORGE C. LASARES, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

TOY CANNON.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug 12 1919 Application filedAugust 19, 1918. Serial No. 250,512.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE C. LAsAREs, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing in Springfield, county of Hampden, and State .ofMassachusetts, have in vented a certain new and useful Toy (,annon, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in toy cannons of the type inwhich a plurality of projectiles are retained in a suitable holder ormagazine and with means for propelling the projectiles one by one, inrapid succession, from the lowermost one of the pile. The propellingmeans comprises a lunger that is operated in one direction liy means ofa rotatable shaft to which a suitable arm is attached, this arm servingthe purpose of retracting the plunger to allow a projectile to fall fromthe magazine into the bore of the cannon, and, at the same time'servesto compress the propelling spring. Suitable means is provided forsupporting the cannon comprising wheels which are located on oppositesides of the barrel. The shaft or rod'upon which the wheels are locatedalso serves the purpose of an axle for the wheels, and, as a connectingmeans between the rear supporting part of the cannon and a block whichsupports the barrel proper.

Referring to the drawings:

F'gure 1 is a plan view of the improvement showing the operativemechanism comprises, in general, a slidable plunger, means forretracting and releasing the plunger and for compressing the propellingspring to eject the projectile;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View on the line 22 of Fig. 1, throughthe axis of the barrel, illustrating the operative parts, the plungerretracting and spring compressing means being in the normal orinoperative positionin which the plunger supports the pile ofprojectiles and the propelling spring is in an expanded condition;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 1 lookingin the direction of the arrow, and showing the manner of supporting theplurality of projectiles one above the other in the holder;

Fig. i is a transverse sectional View on the line -1L of Fig. 1, showingthe propelling plunger, the vertical slot through the same, the arm inthe slot for operating the same: and the vertical opening through thebarrel; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the plunger with the angular-shapedmember pivotally attached thereto, which receives one end of thepropelling spring, the other arm of the member projecting downward belowthe lower side of the plunger.

Referring to the drawings in detail; 1 deslgnates the base-part of thecannon which rests upon the floor or other support, as indicated at 2.This part is formed with a forwardly projecting portion 3 which entersthe notch & in the lower side of the block 5. Passing through theportion 3 in the block 5 is a rod 6. This rod serves the double purposeof securing the base part 1 and the block 5 together, and also as anaXle o1 shaft for the supporting wheels 7 of the cannon. The barrel ofthe cannon is indicated at 8 and is formed with a bore 9. This boreextends into an opening 10 which receives the pro-pelling plunger 11,-a. detail view of which is shown in Fig. 5. The plunger is formed withthe vertical opening 12therethrough and the forwardly extending part 13of the plunger which en gages the projectile, the outer end portionofwhich is chamfered or inclined, as indicated at 14. The bored-out part10 of the barrel extends to the rear end of the barrel 8. This bored outpart is closed by means of the block 15, the reduced part 16 of whichenters the opening 10. 10 designates a shoulder against which theplunger 11 strikes when a projectile is fired. 11' designates theshoulder on the plunger that engages the shoulder 10. The block 15 isformed with a bored out recess 17 to receive the propelling spring 18.This block is secured to the base-piece 1 by 11183118015 the screw 19and assists in rigidly retaining the barrel 8 in place.

Pivotally attached to the open end of the plunger 11 is anangular-shaped piece having a rearwardly extending portion or arm 20 anda downwardly extending portion or arm 21. The attaching pivot isindicated at22 and permits the spring 18 to have free movement duringits operation. The rearwardly extending arm 20 receives the for ward endof the spring 18 while the part 21 enters the longitudinal opening 23 inthe lower part of the barrel 8. The part 21 serves the purpose ofpreventing the plunger 11 from rotating about its axis and also servesas a guiding device for the backward and ing 12 and the opening 23 mustalways be of such length that it passes completely through the barrel 8and through the opening 12 of the plunger when the same is operated.When the crank 25 is rotated the curved portion of the arm 26 moves theplunger 11 rearwardly and, at the same time compresses the spring 18. Asthe tip end of the arm 26 leaves the part 21 the plunger is released andthe spring recoils. The forward end 13 engages the lowermost one of thepile of projectiles 28, and forcibly expels the same through the bore ofthe barrel 8. The inclined portion 14 of the part 13 serves the purposeof allowing the projection 13 to pass under the projectile next above,but will prevent its being expelled by the part 13. A weight 30 servesthe purpose of moving the remaining projectiles downward as they areexpelled. These projectiles are mounted as shown in Fig. 3 in the wirerack 31. This rack is substantially of hairpin formation, the parallelsides of which enter the annular groove 31' in the projectiles, and, theenlarged portion 32 serves to permit the projectiles to be inserted inthe rack. The lower end part 33' is separated as shown and entersopenings 34 in the barrel.

It will be seen from this construction that the projectiles can beexpelled readily by simply rotating the crank to which the arm 26 isattached. During the compression of the spring the lowermost projectiledrops into the bore 9 of the barrel, and, when the spring is releasedthe plunger forcibly drives this projectile from the barrel.

It will further be seen that the invention is simple in construction andone that can be easily assembled without unnecessary labor.

It should be noticed that a platform is provided in the bore of thebarrel immediately in front of the plunger receiving part of the barrel,and onto which the projectiles fall from the magazine. The lowermostprojectile falls onto this platform as the plunger is retracted. Theprojectile next above rests on the reduced part of the plunger.

It will. be observed that the oppositely located curved walls of theelongated and enlarged opening in the barrel at the rear of the boreserve to support the plunger during its reciprocating movements asclearly shown in the sectional views of Figs. 2 and 4.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. A toy cannon comprising, in combination, a base piece, a block havingan opening to receive the base-piece, means for securing the sametogether, wheels for supporting the cannon, said means serving as anaxle for attaching the wheels to the cannon, a barrel mounted in theblock and secured to the same and to the base piece.

2. A plunger for a toy cannon comprising a member formed with an openingtherein, an angular shaped member pivotally secured to the plunger, onearm of the member serving to receive one end of a propelling spring, theother arm serving as a guide for the plunger, said plunger having apropelling end, the propelling end being chamfered for the purposedescribed.

3. In a toy cannon the combination, with the barrel thereof, aprojectile propelling spring, means for supporting the barrel,comprising a base-piece, a block secured thereto, a member secured tothe rear end of the barrel and to the base-piece to provide an extensionof the barrel and for receiving the propelling spring, said barrel beingalso secured to the block.

4. In a toy cannon, the combination, a barrel formed with a verticallydisposed opening therethrough, and walls adjacent the opening, aprojectile expelling plunger in the opening and supported by walls thatare adjacent the opening, a propelling spring in the opening, meanscomprising a member pivotally secured to the plunger and projectingtherefrom into said openlng, and

for guiding the plunger in the opening, said means serving to attach thepropelling spring thereto, and means for operating the plungerindependent of the spring.

5. j A plunger for a toy cannon comprising a member formed with anopening therein to receive a device for moving the plunger, an angularshaped piece secured to the plunger, one arm of the piece serving toreceive one end of the plunger operating spring, the other arm servingas a guidin device for the plunger when in use, one en of the plungerserving as a projectile propelling end.

6. A toy cannon comprising, in combination, a barrel formed with aprojectile receiving bore and a slot extending through the barrel in therear of the bore and communicating therewith, said barrel having anaxiallybored out part also located at the rear of the projectilereceiving bore to receive a projectile engaging having a slot extendlngtherethrough and arranged in the plane of the slot through the barrel,means for feeding projectiles into the bore of the barrel, means on theplunger to plunger, the plunger enter the projectile receiving bore ofthe barrel for propelling the projectiles from the barrel, means forpropelling the plunger,- means for retracting the plunger comprising anarm rotatable through the slot in the barrel and plunger, whereby whenthe arm leaves the plunger the same is released and the projectilethrown forward, as described.

7 In a toy cannon, the combination with the barrel thereof, 'said barrelhaving a projectile receiving bore, an elongated opening communicatingwith the bore and having walls adjacent the opening, but of greaterdiameter, a plunger supported on the walls of the elongated opening andhaving a projectile engaging portion which operates in the bore, theplunger and elongated opening having registering openings, meansoperating in the registering openings for retracting the plunger, andmeans for moving the plunger forward to expel the projectile.

8. A plunger for the purpose specified, comprising two cylindricalshaped portions of different diameters, the larger portion having anopen ended slot, an angular shaped piece pivoted in the slot and havingtwo arms, one arm of the piece serving as a guiding element for theplunger and the other arm serving to receive a coiled expelling spring,as described.

9. In a device of the kind described, a barrel, means for supporting thesame comrespectively.

prising a base-piece the rear portion of which is designed to engage asupport, its forward end portion having an opening, a pin passingthrough the opening, a block having its lower end notched to receive theforward end of the base-piece and openings therein to receive said pm,said block having an upwardly extending portion with an opening toreceive the barrel, the base-piece andblock being arranged at rightangles to each other and the pin serving as any axle for supportingwheels for the device.

10. A support for the barrel of a toy cannon comprising a base-piecehaving an upwardly extending portion, a block having an openingtherethrough to receive the barrel, the rear part of the barrel beingsecured to the upwardly extending portion of the base piece, the blockand base-piece being secured together at lower end of the block and theforward end of the base piece 11. A plunger for a toy cannon comprisinga member formed with an opening therein, an angular shaped memberpivotally secured to the plunger, one arm of the member serving toreceive one end of a propelling spring, the other arm serving as a guidefor the plunger, said plunger having a propelling end, the propellingend being chainfered for the purpose described.

GEORGE C. LASARES.

